On the surveys of household debt in Poland

Abstract

The current grow of household debt requires a new approach to household indebtedness surveys in Poland. The aim of the article is to present and compare research methodologies in the field of consumer debt. The research is focused on presenting the theoretical context of indebtedness, and subsequently on the main aspects of methodological research on household borrowing at the microeconomic level. Selected international and national household surveys as well as data sources available in Poland regarding household indebtedness were discussed and compared. The review of available data sources on household indebtedness indicates that, compared to surveys in other countries, data on the microeconomic level are collected to a limited extent in Poland. The sources of these data can be treated complementary, however this is an obstacle in terms of both their comparability and access to them. This indicates the lack of a single long-term survey on the issue of household debt in Poland. Recommendations for directional changes in research on discussed issues conducted in Poland were formulated in the conclusion.